Post by aleros on Oct 13, 2008 17:58:28 GMT -5
Aleros arrived at the Stormspire, gliding down into the thick brush near the edge. His feathers turned to dark fur as he changed to his feline form and began looking for the paladin who had a book for him to look at.
His nose led him, not surprisingly, to the inn. There was his paladin, sitting across from the whispy-human shape of an ethereal. To the left of the ethereal was a stack of journals, each one looking identical to the other.
The ethereal spoke in the low whisper common to his people. " I made four copies of this book. It was missing a section..."
Bricu motioned for the ethereal to be quiet. Something had spooked him.
"It's only me," Aleros said reassuringly before coming out of the shadows. He presented himself in his feline form, then shifted out. He wore his usual leathers. "I take it there's something for me to read in there?" He motioned to the stack of journals.
Bricu exhaled,visibly relieved. "Aleros me ol' cat, good ta see yeh made it. Azazril, Aleros Cresentwing." The ethereal turned and nodded, "We've got business ta attend ta, so if yeh don't mind..."
"First there is the issue of my payment." Azazril said.
"Right, right. One minute Ale." Bricu produced a small leather pouch and a wand from his pack. "Fifteen zaxxis badges an the wand from a slick ear named Willahandra. All yers."
Azazril took each item then stood up. "A pleasure."
The ethereal floated out of the room, leaving behind a stack of books.
"Take one," Bricu said. "It's a copy of a priestess record on one Grizelle Indarra Leafwhisper. Keep it. Azazril's me best scribe..."
"Really, they work for cheap? We've always used our own scribes - thus why we don't have many copies of our own books." Aleros seemed interested in the Ethereal trader, but then put his attention back to the issue at hand. "Leafwhisper yes, I'm not surprised Fedwyn's name is linked with her." He looked around, as if the name might be dangerous to say. He picked the nearest available place to sit and cracked the book, crisp and clean as it was a new copy. "I've had my dealings with her in the past, some of which may be relevant to this ordeal." He looked up from the book, he hadn't read anything yet. "Would you suggest any particular parts of interest?"
"The beginnin' then the end is really all yeh ever need with Indi." Bricu watched as Ale skimmed the copy. "Azazril's cheaper an' better than a bloody greenskin, an I'd bet me life that he keeps a copy. Fine with me--bloody identical down ta the smears an'water damage." Bricu waited till Ale looked up from his reading. "What do yeh know 'bout Fedwyn. What can he do an' who can he hurt?"
Aleros blinked. "What can he do? Who can he hurt?" He shook his head. "That's just it, he was an ideal druid." He continued to read the book. "What has he done? I'm going to reserve my comments on the matter until I've heard what's going on."
"Indi is a mass murderer an' Fedwyn was her love. He played a part, or I'm a poncy southron." Bricu rolled a cigarette and lit it. He held between his fingers, and used it to emphasize his points. "If he was so bloody ideal, why'd the temple start investigatin' 'em both. Shite, he's slicker than me an' Tarq--an' he's been in the dream for damn near eight thousand years. He says he wants ta let her know who she was before she gets the axe... Mate, he's got Nightmare written all over him--an' I know enough ta know that ain't good."
Aleros smiled as he read the investigations within the book. "Well this is interesting. Let me start with a bit of back story for you." He put his hand on the book to hold the place, gazed at the paladin and spoke. "You see, Fedwyn was a large supporter of Malfurion. At least before he died. Many strange things happened around him, but nothing was ever linked to him. He was big into politics, much more than I was, otherwise I might have been in the running for a position of significant power myself." He sighed. "Fedwyn up and died one day. To keep a long story short, most were told it was an accident, and the funeral was kept small and private. That was why I was so surprised when you told me he'd been acting up. He's supposed to be dead." He waited a moment before continuing as if to let this all sink in. "Now let me say this, the temple keeps a lot from us, we know this. I personally have been involved in two incidents where I stumbled upon secret temple business. I was involved with Miss Leafwhisper and I personally witnessed one of her dreams, a memory, of her and Fedwyn speaking over dead and dissected bodies in what seemed to be their abode. I figured this just a resurfaced memory of teaching her how to enter the dream. I was reprimanded by the temple and told not to do anything else for Miss Leafwhisper." He sighed, carefully picking his words. "We considered the case closed with Fedwyn dead, but I found an interesting bit of info in my own research before I came here. A body was not present at the funeral. There is also no mention of any sort of body ever found. Sometimes details are left out of investigations, but details such as a body?" He shook his head and then held up the book. "It seems this tells about a lot more than I thought."
Bricu grinned. "I knew the tosser was good. Oi, Ale, before Ulth started shaggin' Indi, she and I were almost an item." He shook his head. "One o'the worst ideas... anyway, she told me that he--Fedwyn--was a bad man who had everyone fooled. Said he was gonna be Stormrage's fill in. He tried ta hurt her. So she killed 'im." Bricu took a drag from his cigarette. "I've seen his body. He's stuck in the cat skin in Moonglade. He wants a book and nightmare vine so he can heal himself. He also said Tyrande herself would come after me if Indi remembered who she was. So tell me mate, how worried should I be, an' what can a Druid who fled-- body an' soul-- ta the dream do? He's been in Threnn's dreams--can he hurt her?"
"I had heard there was friction between you two, but almost an item? It seems while I know my world history, I don't know Rider history too well." Aleros shook his head, folding the book closed. "I've seen what I need to see, and I'll give this a more thorough reading." He looked around, as if cautious of their surroundings. "Keep this from the temple as much as you can. I wouldn't be too worried about spies sneaking about as that's not their style. As far as Fedwyn goes, he was a capable druid, but if he's been stuck in the dream he's probably changed. A lot. Abilities in our world and those in the world of the dream vary greatly. Could he hurt her? Physically no, not if he's a dream walker. I wouldn't be surprised if he's danced with nightmares either. If he wanted to he could give her extreme trauma or even alter her mental state. If he's as big a manipulator as you say he is, I wouldn't be surprised. If that were to happen, she could lose the baby too."
"Under better times, I'd tell yeh the whole bloody story. Fact is, now I gotta figure our how ta kill 'im." Bricu paused. "Yeh knew 'bout the wee one?"
Aleros nodded. "Nobody told me. It's something some druids can sense, a presence of a new life." He paused. "Why do you want to kill him at this point? You think he's a threat to Threnn? I can maybe be a bit of help if he's messing with dreams. There's dreamless sleep potions, a common remedy for bad dreams. Or..." He grinned that catlike grin. "Do you two have an anniversary or Birthing Day coming up? I could give you something of druid craft that tends to be fairly expensive."
"What worries me--why I think this bastard has ta die--is how bloody slick he is. No one that calm an connected pals 'round with a murder and doesn't know, condone or call in a hit or sixteen. The fact that he's a threat ta me Threnny ..." Bricu pause and took another drag from his cigarette. "It's the fact that he gives me a bad feeling an' he's manipulatin' me lady--who comes from a family that has a notorious time havun' an' keepin' wee ones--strewth he could just be a bastard who needs a hand. Would yeh take that chance with Sey, or any other mate?"
Bricu smiled as he said, "For protection, we bought a dream catcher in Darnasssus. Reminds me o'some o'the ones they had in Silvermoon for 'folk art.' what'd ya have in mind?"
Aleros smirked. "You're one step ahead. I'm not certain a dream catcher alone offers much protection against maliciousness. I could either make you a new one, or add my own personal touch to the one you already own, if you'd like. There are special dragon scales called Dream Scales. They have special properties when it comes to dreams. They're somewhat hard to come by unless you're in the business of killing dreaming greens. I have a few laying around already and I could work one into the dream catcher's web, if you'd be alright with that."
"Only one step? Shite, mate, with this tosser I wanna be at least three steps ahead... Aye, if yeh think one more, made with Green Flight scales'd be better, then gimme a price. I'll pay it. But what about this book an' the nightmare vine? What'll it do?"
"No price, it would be against my morals. I am paid myself through my organization, and they collect money in their own way." He smiled. "Probably funded by that Dream catcher you bought. I won't need to make a new one if that's the case, just modify the one you have." He nodded at Bricu's comment about the book and Nightmare Vine. "Blood and Sunset..." He stopped to think for a moment. "A book on the preliminary discovery of the nightmare and early observations. If he wants Nightmare Vine, then that says a lot about his current state, although whether he wants it to cause nightmares to others or use it in some other way I'm not certain. It's a mysterious herb and we believe not every use for it has been found, but there are several known uses that aren't for good. I don't know why he wants the book. He's using Threnn as a hostage and you as the gopher to get him things he needs, so he must have some ulterior motive that involves Indarra. It may be as simple as wanting his old life back. He mentioned the temple coming after you if they caught wind of this. I'm not sure that would happen if you mentioned Fedwyn's name, but a bit of personal advice, you don't want to get the temple involved anyway."
"Threnn ain't a hostage yet. If she was, strewth, I'd be raisin' an army... there'd be more bodies too. I'm havin' Azazril make copies o'that book too-translated inta common as well. As for Tyrande, the temple an the Circle, I'll keep me cards close ta me chest, for now. Things change, I'll use anything I can against 'oIm. Yeh wanna look inta this bastard a bit more?"
"I'll see what I can find. As I said, I did a bit of my own research beforehand and found out about the missing body. He may not have a veritable knife to her throat no, but he has you doing his errands for him." He stood up with his own copy of the one book. "I'll pick up the other book's copy when I come by to modify the dreamcatcher, perhaps later this evening? I'd prefer it perfectly transcribed in Darnassian, if your friend can do that, as certain meanings may get lost in translation to common."
"Aye, he'll copy 'em in Darnassian. He'd do Inta goblin with footnotes if yet so inclined. As for errands... Anything yeh could do with the nightmare vine? Add something ta it that makes it less effective? Something that he wouldn't figure out?"
Bricu stubbed out his cigarette and pulled out an exquisite necklace made of precious gems and a cat made of ivory with tiny emeralds for eyes akin to mother of pearl. "These two trinkets are old and magical. Something a Druid may give his lady. I can't figure out what they are or what they do. Can yeh?"
"The vine could be soaked in something, but he'd probably be able to smell another herb's oils on it." He reached a hand out for the items. "Where . . . where did you get all these things anyway? The books and this finery?"
"Do yeh want ta know or would yeh rather just be amazed at me human ingenuity?"
"I suppose where you got them might be relevant..." He sounded unsure. "It's up to you." Holding up the beads and jewels, he turned them about many times and sniffed them. "They're just normal gems, nothing special about them." He did the same with the cat statue. "This is of Highborn design, it's a common decoration in many old style temples and homes, and cat statues are often found in ruins. But..." He sniffed the statue. "It smells of blood." He closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them, they were a dark green instead of their usual yellow glow. "It's blood. There's blood inside of it. It's a container. The material isn't very sturdy, as if it were meant to be broken. Most ornaments like this were built with materials in mind of being dropped on occasion." His eyes returned to their normal color and he handed both objects. "The beads have no power over the owner other than perhaps a sentimental emotional attachment." He chuckled. "That's a powerful spell to some. The statuette however might be of some significance."
"Emotion from him ta her? I found em in her jewelry box-the hidden one near the book- in Azshara." Bricu put the necklace back into a jewelery case. "Any way ta figure out whose blood it is?"
Aleros shrugged, he honestly didn't know. "My thoughts would be either blood of someone important - or something important, either that or a container of blood which in itself might have been important to the owner, if not from a special source."
"Too much ta hope for that yeh'd be able ta answer all me questions. Yeh keep that shite away from Sey an' Sky... somewhere outta reach o'Fedwyn too." Bricu rolled two more cigarettes, and passed one to Aleros.
"Monday we're havin' a party for Ulth an Indi--not sure how it's gonna go down, but I reckon there's gonna be a fight. Yeh Gonna be there an bring more help?"
Aleros waved his hand, "Sorry, I'm not a smoker. I'm the one who got Sey to quit even." He grinned. "I'll see what I can do about the blood, if I can find out anything. I can be at the party, as far as bringing help... myself is all I can offer at this point."
"Bugger. I guess we'll have ta pray." Bricu took Ale's discarded cigarette and put it into his tobacco pouch. "I was thinkin' o'Kost Greywalker, the warlock. Know anyone else?"
"I'll look into what I can turn up... But I will be there. Hopefully nothing too exciting goes down?"
"Hope nothin. It's a party! This one just may end with the deaths of dozens. A bit more than the Pig is used ta." Bricu stubbed out his last cigarette. "Let's just hope the Ice Queen doesn't thaw. See yeh on Monday, Ale."
His nose led him, not surprisingly, to the inn. There was his paladin, sitting across from the whispy-human shape of an ethereal. To the left of the ethereal was a stack of journals, each one looking identical to the other.
The ethereal spoke in the low whisper common to his people. " I made four copies of this book. It was missing a section..."
Bricu motioned for the ethereal to be quiet. Something had spooked him.
"It's only me," Aleros said reassuringly before coming out of the shadows. He presented himself in his feline form, then shifted out. He wore his usual leathers. "I take it there's something for me to read in there?" He motioned to the stack of journals.
Bricu exhaled,visibly relieved. "Aleros me ol' cat, good ta see yeh made it. Azazril, Aleros Cresentwing." The ethereal turned and nodded, "We've got business ta attend ta, so if yeh don't mind..."
"First there is the issue of my payment." Azazril said.
"Right, right. One minute Ale." Bricu produced a small leather pouch and a wand from his pack. "Fifteen zaxxis badges an the wand from a slick ear named Willahandra. All yers."
Azazril took each item then stood up. "A pleasure."
The ethereal floated out of the room, leaving behind a stack of books.
"Take one," Bricu said. "It's a copy of a priestess record on one Grizelle Indarra Leafwhisper. Keep it. Azazril's me best scribe..."
"Really, they work for cheap? We've always used our own scribes - thus why we don't have many copies of our own books." Aleros seemed interested in the Ethereal trader, but then put his attention back to the issue at hand. "Leafwhisper yes, I'm not surprised Fedwyn's name is linked with her." He looked around, as if the name might be dangerous to say. He picked the nearest available place to sit and cracked the book, crisp and clean as it was a new copy. "I've had my dealings with her in the past, some of which may be relevant to this ordeal." He looked up from the book, he hadn't read anything yet. "Would you suggest any particular parts of interest?"
"The beginnin' then the end is really all yeh ever need with Indi." Bricu watched as Ale skimmed the copy. "Azazril's cheaper an' better than a bloody greenskin, an I'd bet me life that he keeps a copy. Fine with me--bloody identical down ta the smears an'water damage." Bricu waited till Ale looked up from his reading. "What do yeh know 'bout Fedwyn. What can he do an' who can he hurt?"
Aleros blinked. "What can he do? Who can he hurt?" He shook his head. "That's just it, he was an ideal druid." He continued to read the book. "What has he done? I'm going to reserve my comments on the matter until I've heard what's going on."
"Indi is a mass murderer an' Fedwyn was her love. He played a part, or I'm a poncy southron." Bricu rolled a cigarette and lit it. He held between his fingers, and used it to emphasize his points. "If he was so bloody ideal, why'd the temple start investigatin' 'em both. Shite, he's slicker than me an' Tarq--an' he's been in the dream for damn near eight thousand years. He says he wants ta let her know who she was before she gets the axe... Mate, he's got Nightmare written all over him--an' I know enough ta know that ain't good."
Aleros smiled as he read the investigations within the book. "Well this is interesting. Let me start with a bit of back story for you." He put his hand on the book to hold the place, gazed at the paladin and spoke. "You see, Fedwyn was a large supporter of Malfurion. At least before he died. Many strange things happened around him, but nothing was ever linked to him. He was big into politics, much more than I was, otherwise I might have been in the running for a position of significant power myself." He sighed. "Fedwyn up and died one day. To keep a long story short, most were told it was an accident, and the funeral was kept small and private. That was why I was so surprised when you told me he'd been acting up. He's supposed to be dead." He waited a moment before continuing as if to let this all sink in. "Now let me say this, the temple keeps a lot from us, we know this. I personally have been involved in two incidents where I stumbled upon secret temple business. I was involved with Miss Leafwhisper and I personally witnessed one of her dreams, a memory, of her and Fedwyn speaking over dead and dissected bodies in what seemed to be their abode. I figured this just a resurfaced memory of teaching her how to enter the dream. I was reprimanded by the temple and told not to do anything else for Miss Leafwhisper." He sighed, carefully picking his words. "We considered the case closed with Fedwyn dead, but I found an interesting bit of info in my own research before I came here. A body was not present at the funeral. There is also no mention of any sort of body ever found. Sometimes details are left out of investigations, but details such as a body?" He shook his head and then held up the book. "It seems this tells about a lot more than I thought."
Bricu grinned. "I knew the tosser was good. Oi, Ale, before Ulth started shaggin' Indi, she and I were almost an item." He shook his head. "One o'the worst ideas... anyway, she told me that he--Fedwyn--was a bad man who had everyone fooled. Said he was gonna be Stormrage's fill in. He tried ta hurt her. So she killed 'im." Bricu took a drag from his cigarette. "I've seen his body. He's stuck in the cat skin in Moonglade. He wants a book and nightmare vine so he can heal himself. He also said Tyrande herself would come after me if Indi remembered who she was. So tell me mate, how worried should I be, an' what can a Druid who fled-- body an' soul-- ta the dream do? He's been in Threnn's dreams--can he hurt her?"
"I had heard there was friction between you two, but almost an item? It seems while I know my world history, I don't know Rider history too well." Aleros shook his head, folding the book closed. "I've seen what I need to see, and I'll give this a more thorough reading." He looked around, as if cautious of their surroundings. "Keep this from the temple as much as you can. I wouldn't be too worried about spies sneaking about as that's not their style. As far as Fedwyn goes, he was a capable druid, but if he's been stuck in the dream he's probably changed. A lot. Abilities in our world and those in the world of the dream vary greatly. Could he hurt her? Physically no, not if he's a dream walker. I wouldn't be surprised if he's danced with nightmares either. If he wanted to he could give her extreme trauma or even alter her mental state. If he's as big a manipulator as you say he is, I wouldn't be surprised. If that were to happen, she could lose the baby too."
"Under better times, I'd tell yeh the whole bloody story. Fact is, now I gotta figure our how ta kill 'im." Bricu paused. "Yeh knew 'bout the wee one?"
Aleros nodded. "Nobody told me. It's something some druids can sense, a presence of a new life." He paused. "Why do you want to kill him at this point? You think he's a threat to Threnn? I can maybe be a bit of help if he's messing with dreams. There's dreamless sleep potions, a common remedy for bad dreams. Or..." He grinned that catlike grin. "Do you two have an anniversary or Birthing Day coming up? I could give you something of druid craft that tends to be fairly expensive."
"What worries me--why I think this bastard has ta die--is how bloody slick he is. No one that calm an connected pals 'round with a murder and doesn't know, condone or call in a hit or sixteen. The fact that he's a threat ta me Threnny ..." Bricu pause and took another drag from his cigarette. "It's the fact that he gives me a bad feeling an' he's manipulatin' me lady--who comes from a family that has a notorious time havun' an' keepin' wee ones--strewth he could just be a bastard who needs a hand. Would yeh take that chance with Sey, or any other mate?"
Bricu smiled as he said, "For protection, we bought a dream catcher in Darnasssus. Reminds me o'some o'the ones they had in Silvermoon for 'folk art.' what'd ya have in mind?"
Aleros smirked. "You're one step ahead. I'm not certain a dream catcher alone offers much protection against maliciousness. I could either make you a new one, or add my own personal touch to the one you already own, if you'd like. There are special dragon scales called Dream Scales. They have special properties when it comes to dreams. They're somewhat hard to come by unless you're in the business of killing dreaming greens. I have a few laying around already and I could work one into the dream catcher's web, if you'd be alright with that."
"Only one step? Shite, mate, with this tosser I wanna be at least three steps ahead... Aye, if yeh think one more, made with Green Flight scales'd be better, then gimme a price. I'll pay it. But what about this book an' the nightmare vine? What'll it do?"
"No price, it would be against my morals. I am paid myself through my organization, and they collect money in their own way." He smiled. "Probably funded by that Dream catcher you bought. I won't need to make a new one if that's the case, just modify the one you have." He nodded at Bricu's comment about the book and Nightmare Vine. "Blood and Sunset..." He stopped to think for a moment. "A book on the preliminary discovery of the nightmare and early observations. If he wants Nightmare Vine, then that says a lot about his current state, although whether he wants it to cause nightmares to others or use it in some other way I'm not certain. It's a mysterious herb and we believe not every use for it has been found, but there are several known uses that aren't for good. I don't know why he wants the book. He's using Threnn as a hostage and you as the gopher to get him things he needs, so he must have some ulterior motive that involves Indarra. It may be as simple as wanting his old life back. He mentioned the temple coming after you if they caught wind of this. I'm not sure that would happen if you mentioned Fedwyn's name, but a bit of personal advice, you don't want to get the temple involved anyway."
"Threnn ain't a hostage yet. If she was, strewth, I'd be raisin' an army... there'd be more bodies too. I'm havin' Azazril make copies o'that book too-translated inta common as well. As for Tyrande, the temple an the Circle, I'll keep me cards close ta me chest, for now. Things change, I'll use anything I can against 'oIm. Yeh wanna look inta this bastard a bit more?"
"I'll see what I can find. As I said, I did a bit of my own research beforehand and found out about the missing body. He may not have a veritable knife to her throat no, but he has you doing his errands for him." He stood up with his own copy of the one book. "I'll pick up the other book's copy when I come by to modify the dreamcatcher, perhaps later this evening? I'd prefer it perfectly transcribed in Darnassian, if your friend can do that, as certain meanings may get lost in translation to common."
"Aye, he'll copy 'em in Darnassian. He'd do Inta goblin with footnotes if yet so inclined. As for errands... Anything yeh could do with the nightmare vine? Add something ta it that makes it less effective? Something that he wouldn't figure out?"
Bricu stubbed out his cigarette and pulled out an exquisite necklace made of precious gems and a cat made of ivory with tiny emeralds for eyes akin to mother of pearl. "These two trinkets are old and magical. Something a Druid may give his lady. I can't figure out what they are or what they do. Can yeh?"
"The vine could be soaked in something, but he'd probably be able to smell another herb's oils on it." He reached a hand out for the items. "Where . . . where did you get all these things anyway? The books and this finery?"
"Do yeh want ta know or would yeh rather just be amazed at me human ingenuity?"
"I suppose where you got them might be relevant..." He sounded unsure. "It's up to you." Holding up the beads and jewels, he turned them about many times and sniffed them. "They're just normal gems, nothing special about them." He did the same with the cat statue. "This is of Highborn design, it's a common decoration in many old style temples and homes, and cat statues are often found in ruins. But..." He sniffed the statue. "It smells of blood." He closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them, they were a dark green instead of their usual yellow glow. "It's blood. There's blood inside of it. It's a container. The material isn't very sturdy, as if it were meant to be broken. Most ornaments like this were built with materials in mind of being dropped on occasion." His eyes returned to their normal color and he handed both objects. "The beads have no power over the owner other than perhaps a sentimental emotional attachment." He chuckled. "That's a powerful spell to some. The statuette however might be of some significance."
"Emotion from him ta her? I found em in her jewelry box-the hidden one near the book- in Azshara." Bricu put the necklace back into a jewelery case. "Any way ta figure out whose blood it is?"
Aleros shrugged, he honestly didn't know. "My thoughts would be either blood of someone important - or something important, either that or a container of blood which in itself might have been important to the owner, if not from a special source."
"Too much ta hope for that yeh'd be able ta answer all me questions. Yeh keep that shite away from Sey an' Sky... somewhere outta reach o'Fedwyn too." Bricu rolled two more cigarettes, and passed one to Aleros.
"Monday we're havin' a party for Ulth an Indi--not sure how it's gonna go down, but I reckon there's gonna be a fight. Yeh Gonna be there an bring more help?"
Aleros waved his hand, "Sorry, I'm not a smoker. I'm the one who got Sey to quit even." He grinned. "I'll see what I can do about the blood, if I can find out anything. I can be at the party, as far as bringing help... myself is all I can offer at this point."
"Bugger. I guess we'll have ta pray." Bricu took Ale's discarded cigarette and put it into his tobacco pouch. "I was thinkin' o'Kost Greywalker, the warlock. Know anyone else?"
"I'll look into what I can turn up... But I will be there. Hopefully nothing too exciting goes down?"
"Hope nothin. It's a party! This one just may end with the deaths of dozens. A bit more than the Pig is used ta." Bricu stubbed out his last cigarette. "Let's just hope the Ice Queen doesn't thaw. See yeh on Monday, Ale."